The Majdhub of Shiraz

In the marketplace, in the cloister, only God I see.
In the valley, in the mountain, only God I see.
In fortune and misfortune, only God I see.
In prayer, meditation, fasting, only God I see.
When I looked with God's eyes, only God I saw.

-- Baba Kuhi
(In Search of The Hidden Treasure by Pir Vilayat Khan)

Atisha and Red Yamantaka

The buddhist saint Atisha was travelling to Indonesia:
...on the ocean a great storm arose and Atisha... meditated on red Yamantaka and completely subdued... the storm.
-- Pabongka Rinpoche

This is not folk tale, not allegory, not fantasy.

The storm was subdued by the act of the meditator.

Meditation changes the fabric of reality. Not all kinds of meditation have this effect, but there are types that do. Some meditations build the capacity of the meditator, so they may stay in samadhi for longer periods of time. Other meditations re-structure the mind to accept the burden of other kinds of meditations. Some meditations develop better abilities to deal with hinderances to the meditative state, such as expanding the memory structures to allow access to transpersonal information or meditations to alter emotional reactions to disturbing content.

Tangible, though seemingly acausal, results occur once you move into the energetic realm of meditation. Magnificent and stunning changes happen to the world around us because of the merit of meditation. It is not that the meditator, by reforming their mind becomes a better human being, and that has a positive influence on others, and in some abstract way, the world. The nature of our shared reality is actually changed by the meditator. Reality bends to the energy of meditation. The world becomes just a little nicer, people become a little stronger and braver. Compassion and love become more accessable.

Nichiren's Great Man

A truly wise man
will not be carried away
by any of the eight winds:
prosperity, decline,
disgrace, honor,
praise, censure,
suffering and pleasure.
He is neither elated by prosperity
nor grieved by decline.
The heavenly gods will surely protect
one who does not bend before the eight winds.
-- Nichiren Daishonin "Letter to Niike"


To truly live these words one must not be carried away by these "winds," but one cannot but help to be influenced by them. If I am attracted to praise but fearful of censure, I have failed. If I ignore either, then I have attempted to be indifferent. My indifference, my attraction, my avoidance are the poisons that keep all of us enslaved to the world of veils. I cannot do it. Because I see myself as separate from the praise, the praiser, the reason for praise, the seeds of the praise, the manifestation of the praise. The veil of seperation, the mantle of ignorance that I cling to, act like huge sails, catching the gusts of the eight winds, keeping me bent before them.
Nichiren's teaching is pure revelation of truth, not some moral code or rule of behavior. I can try to follow the teaching as a code of conduct, and will be better for it, but I am little better off than if I had not done so. Nichiren is describing, not prescribing. Do you see? Where only the divine exists, all praise or censure is silliness at best, like talking to oneself in a mirror. How can censure harm me if there is no me, no censure, no critic delivering censure - not the nihlism of non-existence, but the truth of non-seperation?
Do not nod your head and say "Oh yes, I see." You do not see. Open your mouth. Swallow this gift from Nichiren and let its light come out from your eyes.

The Heart Sutra

Thus have I heard. Once the Blessed One was dwelling in Rajagriha at
Vulture Peak mountain, together with a great gathering of the sangha of
monks and a great gathering of the sangha of bodhisattvas. At that time
the Blessed One entered the samadhi that expresses the dharma called
"profound illumination," and at the same time noble Avalokiteshvara, the
bodhisattva mahasattva, while practicing the profound prajnaparamita,
saw in this way: he saw the five skandhas to be empty of nature.

Then, through the power of the Buddha, venerable Shariputra said to
noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, "How should a son or
daughter of noble family train, who wishes to practice the profound
prajnaparamita?"

Addressed in this way, noble Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva
mahasattva, said to venerable Shariputra, "O Shariputra, a son or
daughter of noble family who wishes to practice the profound
prajnaparamita should see in this way: seeing the five skandhas to be
empty of nature. Form is emptiness; emptiness also is form. Emptiness is
no other than form; form is no other than emptiness. In the same way,
feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness are emptiness. Thus,
Shariputra, all dharmas are emptiness. There are no characteristics.
There is no birth and no cessation. There is no impurity and no purity.
There is no decrease and no increase. Therefore, Shariputra, in
emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no perception, no formation, no
consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no
appearance, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no dharmas, no eye
dhatu up to no mind dhatu, no dhatu of dharmas, no mind consciousness
dhatu; no ignorance, no end of ignorance up to no old age and death, no
end of old age and death; no suffering, no origin of suffering, no
cessation of suffering, no path, no wisdom, no attainment, and no
non-attainment. Therefore, Shariputra, since the bodhisattvas have no
attainment, they abide by means of prajnaparamita.

Since there is no obscuration of mind, there is no fear. They transcend
falsity and attain complete nirvana. All the buddhas of the three times,
by means of prajnaparamita, fully awaken to unsurpassable, true,
complete enlightenment. Therefore, the great mantra of prajnaparamita,
the mantra of great insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequaled
mantra, the mantra that calms all suffering, should be known as truth,
since there is no deception. The prajnaparamita mantra is said in this way:

OM GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA

Thus, Shariputra, the bodhisattva mahasattva should train in the
profound prajnaparamita.

Then the Blessed One arose from that samadhi and praised noble
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, saying, "Good, good, O son
of noble family; thus it is, O son of noble family, thus it is. One
should practice the profound prajnaparamita just as you have taught and
all the tathagatas will rejoice."

When the Blessed One had said this, venerable Shariputra and noble
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva mahasattva, that whole assembly and the
world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised
the words of the Blessed One.